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Council Member Dan Garodnick and Mayor Bill de Blasio at a town hall on Tuesday (Photos by Maria Rocha-Buschel)

By Maria Rocha-Buschel

On Tuesday, the mayor was grilled about the proposed sanitation garage for East 25th Street by neighbors who attended a town hall.

The hotly-contested issue was the topic of discussion at numerous Community Board 6 meetings when it was first announced in 2012 but the plan has stalled in the last two years, and Mayor de Blasio said at the town hall, which was also hosted by Council Member Dan Garodnick, that the issue will be reviewed again once the next term for City Council begins.

“The fundamental problem is that the facilities are concentrated in Lower Manhattan so we need some kind of facility to serve this area and so far this seems like the most viable site,” he said. “But there should be a real conversation about what the community needs.”

Cops are looking for a man who’s spent his summer robbing cab drivers in Flatiron, Greenwich Village and midtown Manhattan.

The man apparently rides up to the taxis on his bike and snatches cash from the drivers’ shirt pockets after reaching through their windows. In one recent incident, the mugger also punched a 46-year-old cabbie before snatching $200 from him. This was on Thursday, July 27 at Waverly Place and Christopher Street, where police found a stolen bike he left behind.

A few days later, on Monday, July 31 at 6:30 p.m., police said the man swiped $70 from a 66-year-old cabbie at East 21st Street and Park Avenue South. He then fled on his bike.

Rosary Solimanto in a handmade coffin in East Midtown (Photos by Sabina Mollot)

By Sabina Mollot

A chronically ill artist with a portfolio full of medically-themed performances protested Trumpcare on Tuesday by lying in a coffin on an East Side sidewalk.

For Rosary Solimanto’s newest installation, “Dead Without Health Care,” the performer, who has Multiple Sclerosis, arthritis and a rare condition called hypothyroidism, told Town & Village that she’d be in the coffin for 24 hours. When a T&V reporter got to the scene after 1 p.m. when she began, it was already 94 degrees out, but Solimanto remained in character, lying corpse-like as confused passersby tried to make sense of what they were seeing.

In an initial press release, the address given was Third Avenue in Kips Bay but the event wound up taking place about a mile north. The location was chosen because it was outside the building where New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have offices.

AFTER COPS ATTEMPT TO MAKE PROSTITUTION ARREST, DRIVER TRIES TO FLEE POLICE
Police arrested a man after he tried to flee the scene of an attempted arrest for prostitution.
Police said that Yu Yuesheng, 53, was driving with a woman who left the vehicle and engaged in conversation with an undercover officer. According to the DA’s office, she offered and agreed to perform oral sex in exchange for $250. When police attempted to arrest the woman for prostitution, Yuesheng allegedly fled while ignoring police vehicles that were following him.
He was nabbed last Thursday at the corner of Park Avenue South and East 20th Street at 3:37 a.m.
Police said that Yuesheng drove recklessly by failing to obey numerous steady red lights, endangering the safety of himself and others. At the time of his arrest, he allegedly flailed his arms to avoid being handcuffed. The DA’s office said that Yuesheng had about $700 in cash in his vehicle and the woman who was arrested reportedly referred to Yuesheng as her “friend.” Yuesheng was also charged with promoting prostitution, reckless driving and resisting arrest. No further information was available about the woman Yuesheng was with who was reportedly arrested for prostitution.

TEEN ARRESTED FOR SEXTORTION
Police arrested a teenager for promoting sexual performance by a child inside Simon Baruch Middle School at 330 East 21st Street last Thursday at 1:20 p.m. Police said that the teen sent multiple female teenagers photos of his penis through Snapchat and coerced multiple girls into sending photos back in fear that he would expose them. He would additionally FaceTime with girls while he was masturbating. He also intimidated a girl into stroking his penis on a park bench during a lunch break from school.
The teen was also charged with sexual abuse, coercion and performance of an obscenity. His name is being withheld due to his age.

Bank robbery suspect

CHASE BANK ROBBER WANTED
Police are looking for a man who robbed a Chase Bank in Kips Bay earlier this month. Police said that the suspect strolled into the bank at 2 Park Avenue between East 32nd and 33rd Street and demanded cash from the teller. The teller complied and the suspect fled. The unknown man is white, in his late 40s to mid-50s and is 5’7” with a slim build. He had grey stubble and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood worn tightly around his face, dark-rimmed eyeglasses, dark pants and a backpack.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at nypdcrimestoppers.com. All calls are strictly confidential.

Santander Bank robbery suspect

BANK ROBBER HITS TWO SANTANDER BANKS IN MIDTOWN
Police are looking for a man in connection with two Manhattan bank robberies. The first incident took place at the Santander Bank at Lexington Avenue between East 34th and 35th Streets, when the suspect approached a teller and demanded money on Tuesday, March 8 at 3 p.m. Police said that the teller complied and the suspect fled with an undetermined amount of money.
The second incident occurred inside another Santander location, this one at 711 Third Avenue between East 44th and 45th Streets. Police said that on Thursday, May 12 at 5:30 p.m., the man approached a teller and demanded money. This teller also complied and the man fled with an undetermined amount of cash.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). All calls are strictly confidential.

TEEN BUSTED FOR PHONE THEFT
Police arrested a teenager for snatching a phone out of a straphanger’s hand as he sat waiting for the 1 train at the 23rd Street station last Monday.
The victim said after the suspect grabbed his phone, he ran out of the subway station. The victim then chased the teen down West 22nd Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues and got his phone back, at which point he hit the teen. Neither the suspect or the victim had any visible injuries and both refused medical assistance. Police said that when the suspect was placed under arrest, he resisted by locking his arms and legs. The teen was charged with grand larceny, resisting arrest and possession of stolen property and his name is being withheld due to his age.

NYU Langone will occupy all of 222 East 41st Street in addition to its current First Avenue facility. (Photo courtesy of Columbia Property Trust)

By Sabina Mollot

NYU Langone Medical Center will be expanding its presence on the East Side, having just inked a 30-year lease with landlord Columbia Property Trust, Inc. for an additional building.

The owner, in an announcement last Thursday, said the hospital will be occupying the entire building, a 25-story office tower at 222 East 41st Street. NYU Langone is expected to move in around the end of the year, after another Columbia’s lease with law firm Jones Day at the property expired last October. The owner didn’t say what the rent would be.

NYU Langone will be converting the building into a combination of medical offices, ambulatory care facilities and other ancillary uses. The lobby has already been upgraded and Columbia Property Trust said the hospital will also benefit from other amenities at the building, which was built in 2001 and acquired by Columbia in 2007.

Services currently planned for the building are ophthalmology, plastic surgery, neurology, urology, dermatology, orthopedics and radiology as well as other physician practice offices. However, hospital spokesperson DJ Haffeman said there still might be changes.

Police have arrested three men over the weekend in connection with three rapes and robberies in the Bronx and Manhattan, including an incident that took place in Gramercy last Tuesday.

Fernando Sandel, 26, was apprehended last Friday and was charged with rape, robbery and strangulation. The two other suspects, 31-year-old Isaias Rivera and 26-year-old Joey Cruz were arrested on Sunday. Both were also charged with rape, robbery and strangulation.

All three of the victims had agreed to meet with one of the men after placing ads offering sex for money on backpage.com, a website with listings for adult entertainment, according to a report in the New York Times.

The incident in Gramercy occurred at the victim’s apartment on Lexington Avenue around 10:40 p.m. on August 4. The 32-year-old victim told police that she made arrangements to meet one of the suspects in her apartment but when he arrived, he maced her and threw her on the bed. Police said that the two other suspects then arrived at the apartment and tied up the victim. They allegedly raped her and stole her phone, laptop and bracelet.

She was taken to the hospital for treatment and has since been released.

The first incident occurred at a building on East 138th Street in the South Bronx on Sunday, June 28 at 11:50 p.m. Police said that the victim, a 20-year-old woman, had made arrangements to meet one of the suspects. He showed up with another one of the suspects and the two men forced her to the roof of the building, where they raped her and took her money. The victim was taken to Lincoln Hospital where she was treated and released.

In the second incident, a 34-year-old woman made arrangements to meet one of the suspects at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at 109 East 42nd Street last Monday at 4:25 p.m. When the suspect arrived to the room, police said that he sprayed the victim in the face with an unknown substance and threw her on the bed. The other two suspects then entered the room and all three men tied the victim up. Police said that all three suspects raped her and stole her cell phone and purse.

The woman was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, where she was treated and released.

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About Town & Village

Town & Village is a print newspaper that has been serving the community since 1947, covering neighborhoods in the East Side of Manhattan, including Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, Waterside Plaza, Gramercy Park, Union Square, East Midtown Plaza and Kips Bay.

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About us

Town & Village is a print newspaper that has been serving the community since 1947, covering neighborhoods in the East Side of Manhattan, including Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, Waterside Plaza, Gramercy Park, Union Square, East Midtown Plaza and Kips Bay.